Tag: Anil Rajput

Health

COVID-19 Vaccination For Children: ASSOCHAM

Dec 18, 2021 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #Anil Rajput, #ASSOCHAM, #COVID-19 Vaccination, #COVID-19 Vaccination For Children, #Dr. Amita Mahajan, #Dr. G. C. Khilnani, #Dr. Rahul Nagpal, #Dr. Rajesh Kesari, #Founder

The Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM) the apex association in the country had organized a webinar on “COVID-19 VACCINATION FOR CHILDREN” under its “illness to wellness” campaign which seeks to highlight salient points regarding vaccination in children.

The webinar was attended by, Shri Anil Rajput, Chairperson, ASSOCHAM CSR Council, Dr. G. C. Khilnani, Ex-Head & Professor, Department of Pulmonary Medicine & Sleep Disorders, AIIMS, New Delhi Chairman, PSRI Institute of Pulmonary Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, Dr. Rahul Nagpal, Director & Head of Pediatrics Fortis Hospital Vasant Kunj, Dr. Amita Mahajan Sr. Consultant, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, Dr. Rajesh Kesari, Founder, and Director, Total Care Control.

Initiating the webinar Shri Anil Rajput, Chairperson, ASSOCHAM CSR Council said, “COVID-19 has upended the life of children, and children’s health is one of the most important issues in sustainable development goals. Although the infection has been less severe for children one cannot ignore the importance of vaccination, and with rising cases of Omicron there is a high risk for children especially who have underlying medical conditions like Asthama, obesity, heart diseases etc”

Mr Rajput further added that several countries have extended their immunization programme for children, but India is yet to roll out a COVID-19 vaccine for children. Vaccinating children will not only decrease COVID19 transmission in this age group but will also reduce transmission from children to adults, minimize disruptions to education and maintain their overall well-being and health.

Taking the parents perspective, Dr. G. C. Khilnani, Ex-Head & Professor, Department of Pulmonary Medicine & Sleep Disorders, AIIMS, New Delhi Chairman, PSRI Institute of Pulmonary Critical Care & Sleep Medicine said, There are incidences of increased obesity amongst parents and this has a direct bearing on children as they will watch their parents itself, with this, there are concerns over increasing alcoholism and child abuse that has come with the social isolation and altercations between the parents themselves and even worse is the loss of a parent that the child may go through during the Pandemic. There is also the issue of increased screen time that the children are facing with all the education and classes taking place in online form due to the Pandemic.

Speaking on the mental well-being of children, Dr. Rahul Nagpal, Director & Head of Pediatrics Fortis Hospital Vasant Kunj said, Besides the physical aspects’ children have been majorly restricted and socially isolated, this has a bearing on their mental health and wellbeing which is the reason why there is an increase in developmental disorders in children in this early stage, the loss of a parent has caused anxiety and nervousness amongst the children as well. The children are losing a sense of reality due to increased screen time as most of their time now is spent looking at fictional cartoons and other characters. The risk of MISC (Multi-system inflammatory syndrome) cannot be ignored in children. MISC is the most important complication as it happens at least after a month of active disease and 1 in 10 lac children get affected due to hyperactivity of the immune system.

Elaborating on children’s specific responses, Dr. Amita Mahajan Sr. Consultant, Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals said, The treatment has varying and differing effects on every child and asymptomatic children will have a more severe impact, and thus steps were taken to limit exposure to the infection, as it was seen that indirect impact was more severe in children with cancer. It is a fact that healthy children do not suffer so badly, unlike children who already have an underlying disease like cancer. The vaccination for high-risk children population has not yet been approved by the DCGI and in the west, only children above 5 years of age are being immunized, the DCGI is carefully deliberating the risk to benefit ratio. Although the pediatric vaccination will build confidence as soon as some degree of vaccination is rolled out.

Dr. Rajesh Kesari, Founder, and Director, Total Care Control said, The most effective arsenal against this virus is the vaccine, our country has made great strides in process of vaccination and India has taken one of the biggest steps, but are these steps enough, as children are being isolated which is making them irritable and depressed, and with the rising burden with the parents to maintain a family discussion on the new variant and children’s vaccination becomes imperative.

The panellists were unanimous in their praise for ASSOCHAM for its initiative, they also spoke about the side effects of Indian vaccines which they sought out to be minimal, the severeness of vaccine hesitancy has been effectively replaced by aggressive acquiring of vaccines, there was discussion on the booster dose as the vaccine efficacy gets lower as time passes by and after 6 months it was found to be 20-25% as compared to 90-95% during the first months, full vaccination is hardly more than 50% and school-going children need to be vaccinated as it will prevent transmission and duration of transmission, as COVID is here to stay we need to take steps to address this commotion.

Health

Penetration Of Mobile Phones Higher Than Glasses In India, Only 50% Of Population Who Needs It Actually Wear Them – Says Experts at Assocham’s ‘Illness to Wellness’ Series

Oct 17, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #Anil Rajput, #ASSOCHAM CSR Council, #Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India, #Dr GV Divakar, #Dr Rajashekar YL, #Dr Saurabh Choudhry

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), one of the apex trade associations of India concluded the ninth edition of the ‘Illness to Wellness’ series themed webinar on ‘Eye Health Care and Online Practices During COVID-19’. The event saw an elite panel of leading ophthalmologists, hold an active dialogue on eye care during COVID-19 and best practices for eye health during long hours of screen time.

Supported by the hygiene brand SAVLON, the programme, an innovative and comprehensive approach to cascade awareness through wellness campaigns to address preventive healthcare management and to promote health, hygiene, and well-being of people, the webinar saw renowned panellists speak at length on how India has taken great strides in raising awareness about eye care health across the country through eye-checkup camps over the years and have been able to educate the population about curable eye conditions such as cataract, refractive surgery, diabetes retinography and others, however, the country still has a long way to go.

Highlighting on the issue, Padma Shri Prof (Dr) Mahipal Singh Sachdev, Chairman & Medical Director, Centre for Sight and President of All India Ophthalmological Society said, “If we look at the penetration of mobile phone, it is over a billion which means almost everyone in the country owns a mobile phone. However, around 25%-35% of the population needs simple glasses for vision and only about 50% of them actually wear.

This is a disconnect created due to lack of awareness. It should be well established that after a child is born after it is one year old and for every year it is in school, it should undergo eye checkups and wear glasses if needed. If you need glasses for refractive error correction and do not wear it then it can affect your performance in school and college. Awareness needs to be increased as it is only in India that the largest cause of blindness is cataract, a completely reversible disease.”

Shedding light on India’s advancement in ophthalmology, he further added that India currently conducts more cataract operations than US, Europe and China combined, and they do so at a fraction of the cost charged globally. This advancement is also leading to a reverse brain drain where doctors are coming to India to train in ophthalmology.

Padma Shri Dr. RV Ramani, Founder and Managing Trustee of Sankara Eye Foundation adding to the discussion said, “The awareness has picked up in comparison to what it was 20-30 years back especially in rural India. We had to go and convince them that they are in safe hands and that it is a safe procedure and also speak of diseases that are curable. Though urban people had awareness they were not aware of specific conditions like glaucoma and diabetes retinopathy. People need to know that these conditions when checked early and treated appropriately can be effectively resolved.”

He further cautioned that COVID-19 should not be a reason for patients to postpone their checkups and eye surgeries as eye hospitals are taking all precautions to keep patients and caregivers safe. He emphasized that patients should not delay checkups for glass correction, routine glaucoma checkup, cataract, and others in fear of entering hospitals as it can adversely affect their conditions.

Commenting on the phenomenon of increased screen time, Dr Saurabh Choudhry, CEO & HOD, ICARE Eye Hospital & PG Institute, explained how Computer Vision Syndrome impacts those working before screens for long hours said, “Computer Vision Syndrome is a new type of disease that has started to take shape as more and more people started working in front of computers and felt symptoms like redness, irritation, difficulty in focusing and others.

For professionals, we suggest that you take a break every 20 minutes for about 20 seconds and look at something 20 feet away. This will relax the muscles and then they can start working again. You can also opt for automated methods where the screen goes dark every 20 minutes and you are forced to take a little break. This will enhance blood circulation to the eyes, neck and back so everything is taken care of by following the 20-20-20 rule. Other factors like the lighting of the room, the position of the body, quality of the computer screen and others also need to be taken care of.”

Dr GV Divakar, Managing Director, Divakars Speciality Hospital and Asian Research & Training Institute for Skill Transfer, elaborating on how the increase of screen time during the pandemic is occurring in both children and adults due to online classes and work from home respectively, said, “Prolonged exposure to screens can lead to developing symptoms of Computer Vision Syndrome where the patient gets headaches, redness etc.

When you look at the screen for too long, the blinking rate reduces and can lead to symptoms of dry eyes. To avoid that, we should reduce the duration of screen time, resolution of the screen and can also use supplements like eye drops.”

He also added that use of online devices such as phones and laptops have significantly gone up during the pandemic by almost 75% but this needs to be controlled as normal screen time should be maximum 30-35 minutes at a stretch. It is advisable that teachers take classes for 30-35 minutes and then give a gap of 15 minutes before resuming classes.

Anil Rajput, Chairman, ASSOCHAM CSR Council added to the discussion by speaking on best practices to keep our eyes protected said, “It is extremely important that we avoid touching the mucous membrane of our mouth, nose and eyes as any contamination on the surface of any object can easily pass on the virus through this mode. It has also been suggested that glasses provide a shield by protecting the eyes from any droplets that can enter through the eye.”

Dr Rajashekar YL, Founder Director, Shekar Eye Hospital who moderated the webinar by placing pertinent questions before the panellists and ensuring a fertile discussion said, “During COVID-19 many people have had the wrath of neglecting non-COVID diseases so we saw a lot of patients getting into eye-related problems because of the neglect. Nobody should lose vision because of the fear of going into a hospital or due to lack of awareness.”

Business World

20 Minutes of Healthy Emotional Diet Can Help Deal With Stress Better, Suggests BK Shivani at Assocham’s ‘Illness to Wellness’ Series

Sep 29, 2020 by Gouri Achary 0 Comments #Anil Rajput, #BK Sister Shivani, #The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), #Vineet Agarwal

New Delhi, 29, September 2020: The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), one of the apex trade associations of India concluded the seventh edition of the ‘Illness to Wellness’ series themed ‘Work-Life Balance and Stress Management’. The event saw Brahma Kumari (BK) Sister Shivani, one of the leaders of the Brahma Kumaris spiritual movement, hold an active dialogue on inculcating emotional wellness to strike a balance between life and work during a pandemic.

Supported by the hygiene brand SAVLON, the programme, an innovative and comprehensive approach to cascade awareness through wellness campaigns to address preventive healthcare management and to promote health, hygiene, and well-being of people, saw Sister Shivani speak at length about the importance of understanding emotional illness and how setting up a healthy emotional diet can positively help our lives and the people around us.

Elaborating on the definition of emotional fitness, Brahma Kumari (BK) Sister Shivani said, “To be emotionally fit, one needs to be emotionally independent. This means if there is a crisis outside, can you be calm inside. Somebody can be rude or angry to you, be shouting at you, can you still be stable and respond with dignity. This is called emotional fitness, where you are not affected by the energy of the situations and people and have the strength to choose your response.”

She further explained how emotional fitness can be effectively practiced in our day to day lives by making a few conscious decisions focusing on filtration of content being consumed, designing a healthy emotional diet and practicing lifestyle discipline.

“For establishing emotional health, we need to look at emotional diet. The emotional diet consists of what you watch, what you listen and what you read. This makes up our emotional health. Our thoughts are created based on information. The first step to take care of your mind is lifestyle discipline. Take a lot of care of the content you consume. Calibrate how much, how long and the quality of the content you want to consume from social media, digital platforms, television, movies, serials and songs. If the content has too much of stress, violence, anger, criticism, ridicule and others, then that is what you will slowly become.”

She then went on to highlight the importance of practicing daily positive mental affirmations to help us get through a time of uncertainty. “We have created low vibration thoughts for our jobs and business and that has started manifesting. We can change that by choosing high vibration thoughts through affirmations like ‘I am a powerful being, I am a peaceful being, I am a fearless being, My body is perfect and healthy and will always be, I am protected by divine energy circle and so is my family, the same circle exists for my workplace, success is certain for me, abundance is my reality, 2020 is a year of a miracle for my organization and a circle of protection for the planet’. Create affirmations of what you want to see and make it a reality. Practicing just 20 minutes of healthy emotional diet can do wonders.”

BK Sister Shivani also shared a few tips on practicing healthy emotional lifestyle like disconnecting from work-related activities 2 hours before bed, signing out of social media

platforms 1 hour before bed, denoting 10 minutes to journaling before bed so as not take negative thoughts and grudges to sleep and practicing affirmations right before sleep so that the positive high thought vibrations are carried through the sleep time.

Putting forth his thoughts on how work-life balance has taken centre stage during the pandemic, Mr Anil Rajput, Chairperson, ASSOCHAM CSR Council said, “This pandemic has brought the whole topic of work-life balance and stress management to the centre stage. During the pandemic, the world is resetting time, it is making people rediscover themselves, realign their priorities and relook at everything in life. In the past few months, many sectors and industries have opted for work from home. This newly embraced culture is giving rise to challenges like distractions at work, lack of motivation, technological glitches and unsteady work-life balance. To overcome these, as Sister Shivani shared, we need to focus on solutions like being positive to reduce stress and creating emotional independence going forward.”

Mr. Vineet Agarwal, Sr. Vice President, ASSOCHAM, highlighting the importance of work-life balance said, “Work-life balance and stress management is a multi-generational issue that has been expanded and had a deeper impact in the past 40 years across generations. The need for balance is critical to everyone’s life, be it mental, physical or spiritual. Striking a balance has thus come in focus over the past few years.”